labor dispute at ECI Telecom following the merger deal with American Ribbon Communications

Chairman of the Cellular, Internet and High-Tech Workers Union, Yaki Pioneer, announced a labor dispute at ECI Telecom, following the merger deal signed between it and American Ribbon Communications.
ECI is an Israeli high-tech company engaged in communications and networking. The company employs about 800 people. The company's center is in Petah Tikva and another development center is operating in Be'er Sheva. Last November, the company announced its acquisition by Sovereign. As soon as the announcement was made, the workers' committee demanded that they sit down to negotiate to secure their terms and employment security with regard to the acquisition.
The company's management initially refused to discuss the matter, claiming that it could not discuss the details of the deal before it was signed. Only after a direct appeal to Sovereign, which gave its consent, did ECI's management enter into negotiations with the Employees and Histadrut Committee on the effects of the acquisition.
Following a succession of meetings, even with World Sovereign Representatives, ECI and Sovereign Committee representatives and sovereigns came to understandings on the issue, which included a promise that employees would not be fired for efficiency reasons by the end of June. The parties also agreed that the new management will want to integrate the companies, the matter will be brought to the negotiating table.
However, in recent weeks, management has refrained from signing the agreements, reverting to the understandings and refusing, under reasons of "legal wording," to commit to the understandings reached. With no choice but to demonstrate great restraint, the workers' committee, together with the Histadrut, was forced to declare a labor dispute, demanding that the company's management come back and sign its commitments. At the same time as the declaration of the conflict, the company's employees held an information meeting today in protest of the management's conduct.
Chairman of the ECI Workers' Committee, Ophir Levy, said: "Over the past two months, we have done everything we can to avoid a labor dispute and negotiated out of responsibility for the future of the company and the future of Israeli workers. We found that the management had withdrawn it from all consents. We are aware of the dangers hovering over the heads of workers in companies acquired by American companies and therefore our role as a committee is to maintain the job security of the workers in Israel.